Welcome back! How long has it been? A week? Two weeks? Doesn't matter. Here's your chapter.
Btw: This chapter is only about 7.8k words long, don't be fooled by the authors note at the end.
Enjoy!
It was a busy day for the reporters outside the school. They couldn't get enough information on All Might, evidenced by their harassment of students and staff alike. They would egg them on for any information on the Number 1 Hero turned teacher, even going as far to block the path of any students trying to get in.
The crowd had gotten bigger each day, starting out with fifty reporters on the third day of school. It had been two days, and the crowd had turned into a mob.
The first one to actually give them the time of day was Uraraka, who spoke of how kind All Might was and how fun it was to be his student. She did admit to them that he seemed to not be a very good classroom teacher, but to be fair it was his first day.
When they tried to go after Bakugo he pushed through them while shouting at them. It wasn't surprising, really. Bakugo had a short temper and even shorter patience.
Izuku remembered when they ended up shoving a camera in his face. He almost ended up answering their questions, but Aizawa came out before he could finish his sentence.
In short, they were told to leave as they were obstructing access to school property, which was a misdemeanor at best that could get them fined. Aizawa didn't go as far as physically removing them which he would be in the right for doing, but it was clear he was tempted to.
Since then the students had made their way to their classes. There was a small incident that activated a lockdown sequence when a reporter tried to chase after Aizawa, but it was alleviated in the hour, and the school sent security to monitor the situation.
It was only close to twenty minutes since Izuku arrived and five minutes since he had stepped on school grounds. Currently he sitting in his seat, waiting for his teacher to arrive. Within a few minutes the classroom door slid open and Aizawa-sensei walked in. He had his phone to his ear and an irritated visage. The beep of a voicemail was subtle and quiet, but from where Midoriya was sitting he could hear it.
"Where the hell are you?" He cursed silently into Yoruichi's voice mail before pocketing his phone. "Damn kid."
Their class now assembled, Aizawa was able to take role. Shihouin was absent. Izuku had already gotten used to the back and forth that would happen between her and Katsuki, so to not hear anything at all was strange.
Yoruichi didn't seem like the kind of person to skip class. Maybe she was sick or just running late. Or perhaps she really was just skipping class. Only time would tell.
The whole class went silent and faced their teacher. Impatiently they waited for Shouta to speak. His hand was covering his annoyed expression.
He sighed, relieving his stress before speaking. "Today, you'll be voting for a class president," He announced. "I don't care how you do it, so long as it's done by the end of the class. Until then, I'll be out."
Izuku assumed he'd be out looking for Yoruichi, or simply meeting with other teachers. He turned on his heels and headed towards the door.
Aizawa hadn't left the room before students kept out of their seats, eager to fill the role. The first one to jump up was Uraraka, followed shortly by Denki and then Mina. The air was filled with the sounds of 'me' and 'I'll do it' before most could even react.
"I don't care who's president, so long as it's done. I'll be back shortly."
And as soon as he finished, he left. The moment he exited that door the class once again went into a frenzy, each one vying for power in their own way.
Rapidly, students had been spouting out their classroom policies before they were even elected, or even decided how they would go about electing a president. The whole classroom had become a factory for the student's imaginations.
Yuga had shouted for everyone to gaze at his cape every day before class started. Mina had demanded half-hour long dance sessions every day. Minoru, expectedly, had the idea for the girl's skirts to be no longer than mid-thigh length. The only surprising thing about the last one was that Kaminari was daydreaming about the same thing Mineta was, agreeing with the purple pervert's idea.
As to how the president should be elected, everyone had their own ideas.
"Let's fight for it!" Bakugo exclaimed, small explosions popping in the palm of his open hand. "Last one standing is president!"
"On account for my splendeur, I should be president!" Aoyama shouted, his entire self radiating with a bright light.
"I say we hold it to a vote by majority!" Tenya spoke up. "What better way to emulate a democracy than voting for our leader?"
"But what's stopping people from voting for themselves?" Mina asked.
"Then we simply have to rely on our classmates integrity to not do so!"
Izuku had a feeling that only a handful of his class had the integrity Tenya hoped for. There were three people Izuku could see voting for themselves: Mineta, Yuga and absolutely Bakugo.
He sighed and let his head relax, ready to get this over with. When instructed by Iida, he pulled out a piece of paper and wrote down his vote, then laid it down on his desk face first. Izuku had cast his vote, and now he had to wait.
Today was a relaxing day. Aizawa made the mistake of letting her know todays plan in class, which gave her the incentive to stay home (though she would have stayed home regardless).
She may miss a few classes, but it wasn't like a day's absence would be catastrophic. What's the worst that could happen?
Currently she was curled up into a ball on her couch with an empty cup of milk sitting on the end table of her couch. A small ray of light, unblocked by her curtains, shone it's way onto her body. It felt warm and put her into a much more relaxing state than before.
Aizawa had called her phone at least four times, Yoruichi ignoring each call. Instead of answering, she further went into a sleeping state.
Sure, she could use becoming a class president to flex over Bakugo, but instead she took it as nothing important and decided to stay home. She'd make Katsuki snap again some other day. It was almost a sport to her.
It did make her wonder who would be president of the class, and what it even meant. Is the president just a mediator between students? Do they actually make decisions that impact the class?
If it was the former case then she could only imagine Momo or Tenya being the ones to do that. Putting Bakugo in charge would be the worst idea if it was merely a mediator position. Izuku was too timid. None of the rest of the class cared enough to even try.
Should it be the latter of the two, Shihouin couldn't think of who to trust with the latter position. Maybe herself given her past experiences as a Gotei Captain, but would her experience as a Shinigami captain apply to a human classroom? Perhaps Tenya again, but not exactly Yaoyorozu. The boy could take charge of a situation, but Momo give Yoruichi the impression she, like Izuku in a way, was too timid for that.
Thinking on it only made her tired more. She relaxed her body more and shed her mind of any thought, hoping to be fully rested by noon.
Just as she was about to shift into unconsciousness she heard her front door's lock shift and jingle a bit. Her eyes opened and shot to the door. Aside from her there were only a handful of people who had keys to her apartment. And by that she meant two. There was the grey-coat man from the hospital just in case her guardian couldn't get there in time... and Aizawa Shouta, her legal guardian.
Grey-coat had no incentive to check up on her. She was absent from school. Knowing him, he probably left the class alone to vote for the rep to check on her. The man was also decently fast, so he should be able to get back as fast as he got there, if not faster.
The door opened and she was right. She stared at him on the couch and he hadn't looked in yet. When he did he looked mildly confused.
"Shihouin never said she got a cat," he spoke aloud. "Or are you just a stray that slipped in?"
Aizawa walked up to her and stared down. She was tempted to meow, but she wasn't actually a cat. If she did it would just sound like an adult male saying the word.
Yoruichi uncurled herself and let out a small stretch and a silent yawn. She jumped down from the couch and strutted over to the door. She began to paw at it, briefly glancing at Shouta between each paw.
'Smart enough to ask to leave. Probably someone else's cat that got stuck in here.' He thought. Or maybe Shihouin got a cat without his knowledge, it could be either one.
Aizawa walked over to the door and opened it, letting Shihouin leave her apartment while mentally laughing at the teacher. When Aizawa closed the door behind her to look for evidence of she disappeared to, she was doing so at the moment.
...
There was no sign of her. It was almost like the girl had up and vanished. Her shoes seemed to be completely untouched, her front door was locked and her keys were on the counter.
Going through her closet made him feel dirty. It was less of the fact that it was a teenager's closet, but instead a girl's closet. But the girl was showing all signs of being here but also never having existed as well. Her uniform was hung in her closet, and her articles of clothing were also there.
Shihouin's limited wardrobe let everyone know what she wears. She had two workout outfits, three sets of casual clothing and two sets of loungewear. All of her clothing was there. He quickly shut the door and backed away from her closet.
There wasn't any way in hell she would be streaking in public. He had heard about her little stunt in Hero Basic Training from Yagi, but this was much even for her. At least he hoped it was.
The only sign of her being here recently was the cup of milk on her end table that looked freshly poured. The cat was strangely close to the cup as well. In fact, the cat had white stains around its mouth against its black fur. The stains were also fresh. He walked over to the cup and grabbed it. It was cold.
Toshinori's words rang clear in his head. 'There's a chance she might have multiple quirks, but I'm not positive.'
"She was the damn cat!" He cursed. It had to be the only solution, or he was going crazy. There wasn't any way he could prove it, but with all the information going through his head it made sense.
She was in the house with him and he let her out. She was right there! He couldn't help but curse at himself as he rushed back out of the door. He wanted to chase after her, but he had a class to get back to and quick. There's no telling what could have happened between then and now. For all he cared to know the whole class had devolved into a free for all for the position.
He wouldn't spite the girl by locking herself out of her own apartment, but he'd fine some way to catch her next time. Somehow...
It was Shihouin's unofficial day off. The muscles in her legs stretched as she took each step. Some bystanders tried to pet her like any normal cat, others either didn't acknowledge her or gave her a wide enough berth to not accidentally kick her.
At the moment she walked down a semi-vacant alleyway. The only other life there were a few rats and several dozen cockroaches. There was also a person in the alleyway. An adult male it appeared, about six feet tall and wearing a loose, clean, but tattered, white t-shirt with a few holes in it, and dark black khakis. His brown hair was short and rugged, reaching his cheeks and covering some of his nape. She couldn't gather much of his build, but if his arms were anything to go on, he was skinny and lean yet had some muscle on his biceps.
He was facing the opposite direction. She was sure she saw a single small chain link between his two legs
"Excuse me, sir," she called out to the stranger, her voice disguised as a man's.
He turned around, confused and curious. Her suspicions were made correct when she saw the chain attached to his chest. It was long and far from being eaten. This man was probably freshly dead.
Her reasons for staying away from school today weren't solely out of sloth. Her interaction with that soul from a few days ago made her curious. He was the first plus she had seen in this world and she had been in it for almost a year up to that point.
Why were there so few souls in this world? Why are the even less hollows? Did quirks come from spiritual energy or did something else cause it?
"H-hello?" He asked.
"Down here, sir," she directed. The man was startled when she spoke.
"An animal with a quirk?" He assumed.
"Not necessarily," she said, internally smirking.
With a large puff of smoke she took a humanoid form again. The mist was still obscuring her body, but the closer she got to its edge a shadow in the shape of her naked body appeared.
The smokescreen died down shortly after, and pieces of her flesh began to penetrate the edge of the smokescreen. Slowly, she revealed herself.
"Put some damn clothes on!" The plus shouted, turning his head away and putting his hand in front of Yoruichi.
"Don't have any."
The spirit turned around fully. "Goddamn it."
Shihouin smirked slightly. "Anyway. While I still have your attention, I wanted to talk about that chain on your chest."
"What about it?" He asked.
"It's called a chain of fate," she replied, arms now crossed. "Do you know why it's there?"
The plus turned his head briefly to look at the Shinigami. He turned his head back around when he realized she was still undressed. "I'm dead, aren't I?"
"Yup," Yoruichi answered. "Last kid I talked to didn't even know it."
The man shrugged. "I just needed to confirm it. I didn't have this chain yesterday." He looked down at his chain, planted in the middle of his chest, right where his heart was. "So are you some kind of esper? Maybe a priest or onmyoji?"
"Shinigami," Yoruichi corrected.
"You? A kid? Some small little girl who can turn into a cat is the grim reaper?"
"Fuck you, I'm several centuries old! And I am a Shinigami, there are several of us."
The man huffed. "Then why don't I see any of you guys walking around?"
"Because only those of you with a high enough spiritual awareness can see Shinigami and hollows," she explained, crossing her arms and tapping her foot. It didn't help her case that pretty much everyone here could see her without a gigai. It threw off her theory that quirks were the result of reiryoku because the quirkless could see her as well. "Also, there's a chance that this world may have been off radar for a long time. At least that's my working theory."
"'Off radar'?" The soul parroted. "What does that mean?"
"As in we had no clue this place existed, but like I said, it's what I'm running with. All's I know is that wound up here on accident."
"Well, if you are a Shinigami are you here to send my soul to heaven or... wherever the hell im supposed to go?"
"No can do-"
"The hell does that mean?!"
"I can't do that. Others can but not me-"
"Why not?" The soul asked impatiently.
"Because I may or may not have thrown away the one thing that makes me able to do that..."
"Why would you do that?" The dead man questioned, now baffled at her assumed clumsiness.
"Because the division I worked in wasn't responsible for letting souls pass on." There was more to it than that, but she didn't have the time, nor did she feel like explaining it. "I thought I'd never need it so I discarded it."
"Well what does that mean for me?"
"Well..." Yoruichi began, "either you pass on naturally, or you become a hollow."
"This is bullshit!" Katsuki shouted. "She isn't even here!"
"It wasn't explicitly stated a student has to be present," Yaoyorozu explained in her usual demeanor. "Also... she's smarter than she looks.
"What're you talking about?" Sero asked. "She's a B-C student and you're all A's."
"She did come up with our plan for the battle exams," She explained. "And it worked flawlessly until she went in to the building."
"Huh," Sero grunted. "I thought it was you?"
The door to the classroom slid open and in came their disgruntled teacher. He looked angrier than usual, which was odd given his demeanor was either indifferent or serious.
He looked at the board and sighed with discontent. "So these are the results..."
"Midoriya-kun. Get up here and address the class. Because your vice is missing for the day, you'll have to do it alone."
Izuku, frozen in place, barely registered the words coming out of his mouth. Sure, he may have voted for himself because he finally wanted to start believing in himself, but this was too big of a leap.
"Midoriya Izuku," Aizawa growled. "I don't have enough patience at the moment. Get up here. Now."
Slowly, and with a slight tumble, he stood out of his desk. He walked to the front of the class where everyone was staring in surprise, all but Uraraka and Iida.
"Sorry, Aizawa-sensei!" He apologized with a deep bow.
He turned to face his class. All but Katsuki, who was staring out of the window, were waiting for him to speek. Today was the worst day of the week.
He hated making speeches.
...
It was lunch now and Midoriya had appeared to calm down since class. He sat at a table with Tenya and Ochako.
Izuku was picking through his food nervously.
"Relax, Midoriya-kun," Iida said to his friend. "I'm sure you'll do fine."
"I-I've never been in a position like this before," he admitted. "W-what if I mess it up? What if I can't live up to expectations?"
He immediately regretted voting for himself. If he hadn't he would have at least tied with Yaoyorozu and Shihouin. In which case he could elect to not go to a lightning round, or whatever they would have done in that situation.
"Don't worry about it!" Ochako reassured him. "None of us have been in that situation before. I don't know what I'd do either."
"Y-yeah," Izuku agreed, letting up his anxiety only slightly.
He looked towards Tenya with a topic he hoped would shift attention away from him. "Iida-kun," he said, getting his friend's attention. "During battle training I noticed your suit looked a lot like Inginium's. Are you his brother?"
"Indeed I am," Tenya responded with a smile.
"I had a feeling even before I saw your costume. You share a lot of his features and have the same last name as him. You even have similar quirks." Izuku finished speaking to take a bite of his food. He chewed and then swallowed, and then continued speaking. "I don't mean for this to sound like a dumb question but... why did you want to go to U.A.?"
"Because I wished to continue the Inginium legacy!" He exclaimed, proudly. "U.A. was the best way to do so."
"If your brother's a famous hero then why didn't you come through recommendations? Im sure he offered."
"He did," Tenya confirmed. "But I wished to know that I deserved my place here! I turned down his offer, and im glad I did. To be able to prove myself-"
Iida was cut off from his tirade when the school alarms went off. The sound was blaring and distracting, as well as near defining. Even though it was designed that way, Izuku couldn't help but hate the sound. He wasn't sensitive to it by any means, but the sudden noise made him jump in his seat.
'ATTENTION: CODE 3 EMERGENCY! EVERYONE GET TO A SAFE AREA' the robotic voice alarmed, ringing through every corner of the school.
The trio of students immediately left their seats, leaving their meals behind. Obviously confusion took the crowd, as well as a slight bit of panic.
"What's going on?" Ochako asked.
"We're about to find out," Iida answered, filing into the massive crowd of students.
The man was an odd soul. She should probably try to check on him regularly if she could. Things would be best off if there was only one hollow in this world. School would get in the way of that, but what kind of problem would a few extra missed days be? After all, she only missed today and didn't miss anything important.
What's the worst that happen?
She walked down the regular paths to the outlets. Aizawa had no doubt expected she was the cat, but he couldn't prove it to neither him, her or anyone else. She'd have to deny any knowledge of what he was talking about, and the thought of gaslighting the man made her feel very-only-slightly bad.
Not many people paid her any mind, aside from the occasional child who wanted to pet the stray cat. The scratches did feel good, she'd admit that much. Now that she thought more on it, she might want to get a collar or a choker. Maybe one that can act as both if she needs to transform in a pinch.
But where would she get it? The obvious choice was the school workshop, but trying to explain why would probably catch the eyes of the staff. Perhaps commissioning an actual company and explain it, thus avoiding the eyes of the school? It'd be expensive, but worth it... probably.
She'd worry about it later. For the time being, she has clothes to steal.
Turning the next corner she had found herself at the mall she had been at the first time she went shopping for clothes. It was the same mall she was at when her and Mina went to watch a movie.
Everything looked as it did that day, only difference being the colors of the storefronts. Most were either a variation of the original colors or a new one entirely.
Yoruichi turned into the first clothes store she saw. Lucky for her, the owners were yet to see a cat enter their store. It's not like she sheds, but they'd still toss her out.
She did her best to hide herself by sticking to the inside of the display racks, primarily sticking with the darker colored shirts and pants. While doing so, she was also spying the clothes that would fit her best.
In the selection were a black pair of short-shorts that were less than modest and made of a jean-like material. The shirt she had chosen was from the men's section, black and gray, and of a smaller size, but still loose fitting. Alongside all of this were a pair of black slides with the manufacturer's logo on the upper strap.
Petty theft wasn't a crime she was proud of, but at least it wasn't murder.
After releasing her cat form, a cloud of smoke enveloped the room. The sounds confused and panicking voices and heavy coughs ensued. She used Shunpō to grab all the clothes she spotted. She ripped off the tags, and crushed the security tag on her hands. It was dust before it could make a noise. Then slipping into the clothes, once again she used Shunpō to leave the store. She'd probably hear about it on the news later. Best to hide the clothes and burn them at some point to avoid getting caught. That was only if she wasn't seen wearing them by Aizawa or her classmates.
Currently she was just outside the mall, atop the roof of one of the nearby buildings. She looked down at the mall with a guilty visage, even physically cringing at what she just did.
She thought that she'd best get home now. School would be letting out in an hour or two.
...
Everything was just as she left it. Nothing gone, no extra additions, no Aizawa hidden in the background.
Actually, now that she thought about it and just to be safe...
She checked all two of her closets, the pantry and even her bedroom. The bathroom was clear and so was under the couch. She doubted he would be there, but wanted to be safe.
The reishi in this world matched the other world in quantity, but felt oddly denser for some reason. Perhaps it could be that she was smaller and therefore felt more of it, or it could just be the natural state of this world. It made it harder to detect someone's presence, but just barely. She could feel her neighbor's presence just fine, even everyone who would pass on by on the sidewalks.
Did this make sense? She did not know. The study of such things was beyond her. For all she knew it could be a completely different reason why it was harder to detect people. But as far as she knew, or even cared to look into, this was why she had a more difficult time trying to detect if Shouta was in the apartment or not, thus needing to result in a physical search.
He was gone. She was alone.
Yoruichi relaxed herself. She could feel as free as she wanted to until Aizawa came to bust down the door. She'd give him three hours; two for the amount of time left in school and one to make it there through return traffic.
Lazily walking to her couch, she had turned on the TV and flipped through relevant events. She had gone through several channels, hoping to see something that would catch her up to speed (or at least whatever might be new). What better way to spend your day off than watching TV? Mina might say video games or shopping, Kisuke might say saké, she couldn't get a grasp on what Soi-Fōn would say.
'Do days off even register in that girl's mind?' Shihouin wondered.
She stuck on the first channel that caught her attention. It was a small event somewhere in the Itabashi ward in Tokyo. Some new hero debuting during a drug raid, if the news text had anything to say. His name? Unclear to her. Though his quirk was... unique. The officers had put some kind of pipe up through the exterior ventilation system, and the hero was breathing into it.
Izuku might know about the guy. He has pages on almost every upstart hero and heroine. Maybe he breathes teargas or some shit. Her interest was ultimately lost and she changed the channel.
'-U.A. before being escorted off campus again."
''Again?'' She mentally repeated the reporters words. Her attention was brought into this channel.
"Staff has reviewed security footage of the event and is attempting to determine who could have let the reporters in. While it was determined to be the result of a quirk, what kind and who it belongs to is unknown. They are yet to reach out to nearby buildings for their footage, but will likely do so eventually..."
"So U.A. was broken in to?" She said to herself.
She was placing bets with herself on when it could happen. While the automated security was top of the line, it much more likely to glitch and bug out compared to actual bodies.
"The trespassers have so far all been arrested, and will possibly be charged for trespassing and, if it was found that it was one of their quirks who caused this damage, illegal quirk usage and property destruction."
U.A. is in for a shit-show, both she and them knew it. Angry parents, press harassment and possibly students being pulled from their school. This may even deter potential students even considering going, perhaps choosing Shiketsu or Nabu instead.
Something also told her, this was merely the prelude to the start.
It was a strange coincidence Shihouin simply wasn't at school when it was essentially broken into. It was the one thing on everyone's minds, even those who didn't know the big secret which was all but three people.
The only three people who knew felt the most to speak up, but before they could Numuri did.
"It doesn't strike anyone as suspicious that Shihouin-chan was just missing today? No calls, no letters?" She shot a curious glare to Aizawa. "She didn't text you?"
"No she didn't," Shouta sighed. "It's very like her not to."
"It's a possibility," Yagi entertained, not sure if he wanted to go along with the collective thought. "Aizawa-kun, you know her best. Or at least... I hope you do."
"From my somewhat limited knowledge," he began, pinching the ridge of his nose, "I don't think it was her. She's rambunctious and childish, but I would barely call her a criminal."
"Barely?" Ectoplasm asked, parroting the teacher's words.
"Maybe something stupid like trespassing or graffiti, but not this. Even she'd know this is too obvious. To just miss a day of school to break down one of its walls."
"We reviewed the security footage right?" Nezu asked, shifting his body to turn his seat, now facing Cementos.
"The footage was corrupted," he said, hesitantly. "I could only get everything that happened up to five minutes before the media got in."
"That... that can't be a coincidence," Midnight commented. "Shihouin goes missing for the day, the security camera glitches out and the press breaks in."
"How about this," Yagi suggested, "I know someone with a quirk that can get the truth out of her-"
"You mean that Naomasa guy?" Aizawa asked.
Toshinori nodded in confirmation. "That's him-"
"Are you sure this will work this time? You said yourself, she's good at evading his questions specifically, or even dancing around them when he's in the room."
"I'll admit, it's a long shot, but it's better than nothing. We could sit here speculating or we could do something about this."
"I'd say it's worth a try," Nezu said.
While the room was silent, there was an unspoken agreement among them. It wasn't like there were any other plans being thrown around. Unless there was anything better thrown on the table they could only silently agree.
Her phone began to ring. She stood up from where she laid down to look at the caller. It was Mina.
Curiosity getting the better of her, she answered it.
"Hey Ashido. Aren't you supposed to be in class?"
"Oh, they let us out early."
"Really?" Shihouin asked.
"Yeah. Press broke into the school. Sent everyone into a tizzy."
"I heard," Yoruichi replied, staring at the ceiling. "How'd the press get in?"
"There was a hole in the perimeter fence. Don't know who made it, but I get out of class early so that's a plus."
"It doesn't worry you that a villain could've done it?"
"I mean... kinda. But the staff is all heroes and the security is the best of every other school-"
"If someone that easily broke in, I'd think that maybe the security isn't that good."
Mina sniggered slightly at the jab. "I guess I see your point. Oh! Before I forget, Aizawa-sensei went out looking for you at the start of class. He came back really pissed. Just a heads up."
"Thanks for the warning. I'll make myself scarce then."
"Good luck then. Bye!"
The phone beeped as the call went off. She immediately hopped out of bed and put on clothes in a rush, hoping to be out of the door as soon as possible. She pocketed her phone and home keys and then left her bedroom to make a straight line for the front door.
She opened it and took a single step outside. Being on the first floor had its advantages, like making it easier to haul groceries inside or a shorter walking distance in terms of relativity; advantages of convenience. Whereas if she were on the second floor, she would see a police car pull up along Aizawa's before they saw her, instead of meeting each other at the same time; strategic advantages.
"Shit," she cursed.
"Shihouin!" Aizawa shouted as he left his car.
Hoping she could get away with it – at least just this once – she Shunpō'd away from her apartment room and onto the sidewalk behind the cars.
"Busy," she replied quickly before taking another step forward.
"You aren't going anywhere," he ordered.
Yoruichi saw his eyes begin to turn into their bright red color and the strands of his hair raise. His scarfs began to flow freely in defiance of gravity and his face contort into one of irritation. Just before she was sure it fully activated she had left before a second had passed.
Aizawa grit his teeth the moment his quirk was fully active. If only he had done so while he was pulling up he may of had her.
"Damnit," Naomasa spat out in annoyance. "Does she know we think it's her?"
"Probably," Aizawa agreed. "The fact she was leaving while we showed up means she knew we were coming, or it was at least another coincidence of the day."
"Who could've tipped her off?" Yagi asked.
Aizawa huffed, releasing his quirk. "I have a few ideas."
The soul was gone. She checked high and low in the alley, in every dumpster and behind every abandoned box. She did her best to track his presence but he wasn't anywhere nearby. Just a few rats and feral cats.
She never even got his name.
Yoruichi used Shunpō to leave the alleyway to another one nearby, hoping to be able to track the soul. This one she couldn't afford to lose. She had no clue when she would be able to find another soul or even a hollow. She didn't even know if he could use his quirk while dead, or if he even had one.
Even though this alley was vastly cleaner and vacant of everything but the building walls, she still couldn't find him. Just a few birds picking at tiny insects on the ground.
Again she tried to track his Reiatsu, only to be left annoyed when she couldn't find anything. "Goddamn it," she cursed.
She sighed and a small burst of wind blew westward. The humidity made the breeze warm, but it was a strange occurrence as the air was supposed to be still all week. She looked around the area, looking for anyone who's quirk could have done such a thing. When she looked to the sky, the sun had gleamed off a bright red feather which was slowly descending to the ground.
Yoruichi wasn't Izuku, but that didn't mean she didn't study the quirks of other heroes and villains; only her desire to do so was different. She peered through her memory, trying to remember who this feather belonged to. It was to big to be a cardinal's and nowhere near the right color to be a...
"Hawks."
"I thought I was being sneaky," he teased slightly, calling back his feather which had yet to land on the ground.
"Right," Yoruichi replied sarcastically. "You definitely didn't do that on purpose."
She took a moment to look over him, noting his outfit and demeanor. It was his typical attire whenever he was patrolling the streets. A black shirt with a wavy golden pattern that resembled a ripple-like effect. Over his shirt was a tan jacket with white fur lining his cuffs and insides. His pants matched his jacket in color, but lacked any fur details. His attitude was as relaxed as she'd seen him in the interviews, and was as 'chill' as Mina described him to be.
"So what're you doing in this semi-abandoned alleyway, with a young teenage girl... alone?" Hawks began to snicker a bit. "Especially with the way you're almost leering over me."
Hawks snickering turned into a single loud laugh before calming down. "We got a call about a girl matching your description using her quirk without a license. Your name wouldn't happen to be Shihouin Yoruichi, would it?"
"Nope," she quickly responded. "So I'll just be on my way-"
"Even so, maybe you could help identify her. I have a picture of her right here."
The hero refused to take his eyes off her as he pulled out his phone from his jacket pocket. He turned on his phone and a picture of her in Mina's house, banging her head against a controller, with her name tagged in the picture was presented.
'He made it his screensaver.'
"You wouldn't have happened to see this individual, would you?"
"Where did you find that?"
"It popped up in my social media feed," he answered. "So is this you or not?"
She flash stepped away again, leaving Hawks in her metaphorical dust. He smiled slightly, laughing to himself. Hawks rose to the sky far above the highest building on the street.
"Kids these days," he laughed.
He flipped his palm inward with his pointer finger curled inward, and waited.
...
The first thing to catch Yoruichi's attention was the smell, which was more than putrid. However she couldn't be surprised, she hid in a dumpster. But even for a dumpster the smell was bad, like someone had died and was rotting from the inside out.
Just for curiosities sake, she pulled out her flip phone and fiddled with the buttons- "ohh, that's how they found me so fast," she commented, eyeing the phone. She still didn't know if the tracker was an app or built into the phone itself. Moving her attention back on point, she messed around with her phone's buttons until she found the flashlight.
The light blinded her shortly and Yoruichi dropped the phone. Had the flashlight not been on she'd be scrambling for her phone. Finally grabbing the source of her light, she shone it in the direction of the scent and was unsurprised that is was exactly what it smelt like: a corpse. The corpse of a man with dark colored pants and a dirty and tattered shirt.
"Wait, isn't that- AHH!" Before she could finish her analysis she was dragged into the air by a hidden force and dropped her phone in the dumpster. Something had snuck it's way into Shihouin's shirt as it was dragging the back of it upwards, nearly choking her in the process.
Faster than she was expecting she passed several windows and was ejected out of the alleyway and into the sky. Her face was parallel with the ground. Shinigami could stand on air, yes. But not sideways.
She was thrown into the air a few more feet before the force pulling her came to a halt. Her body jerked upward as she came to a halt and her back brushed up against something stiff and feathery soft.
"There you are!" She heard the wing hero announce. Rapidly she found herself being dragged towards him.
"Can you let me down?" She requested, finally face to face with Keigo.
"Will you run away again?" Hawks asked with a smile.
"Maybe."
"Then that's a no-can-do."
"Well, I'm at your mercy," she lied. In truth she could Shunpō away at any time, but chose not to just for the sake of not drawing attention to her any more than she already has for the day. "So when are the handcuffs and big ass muzzle?"
Hawks snorted a little. "You know, this was actually kinda fun for how short it lasted..." Yoruichi rolled her hand in a way to incentivize him to hurry up. "In about a week or three, the U.A. Tournament will kick off."
"Your point?"
"My point is, I'll have my eyes on you. I read your reports and you might just be able to keep up with me."
"What kind of undertones does that have?" Shihouin joked.
"Internships," Hawks said, taking in a breath before continuing. "But first, there are a handful of people who'd like to speak to you."
"Who?"
Hawks gave no verbal response, only smiling and pointing downwards. Her vision averted from her aerial abductor, she looked at the sidewalk to see four familiar faces looking up at her. One of them, did not look quite happy.
"Fuck."
...
"Can you let me stand?" Yoruichi asked.
"No," said Aizawa, not even hesitating to deny her.
"Shihouin-chan," Nezu began, "why were you absent today?"
"Oh you know, just taking in the sights-"
"Shihouin," Naomasa interrupted. "Tell us the truth."
"No time for sarcasm? Okay then-"
"We aren't here for your childish jokes," Aizawa growled. "Take this seriously, U.A. was broken into today."
"I know," she answered. She rolled her eyes at the man, pausing before moving on. "Before you ask, it wasn't me..."
"That much is the truth," Naomasa confirmed, easing the tension of the group, but only slightly.
"What are you, are human lie detector?"
"Maybe, maybe not. I could just be quirkless."
Yagi coughed, drawing the attention on him. "So then, why weren't you at school today?"
"Independent research," she answered. "And no, I won't be sharing that information. It's private."
"Are you always this vague?" Keigo asked.
"Only when he's around," Yoruichi replied, pointing to the detective. Her eyes widened as she remembered remembered the dumpster. "Oh, before I forget. Someone died in a dumpster."
"Do you really think-"
"Aizawa-kun," Naomasa cut off, "She's being serious."
It had only been thirty minutes and the whole street had been quartered off. Police and emergency medical personnel had rushed to the scene. Shihouin had no idea why they needed medical staff when the guy was dead, but humans will do as they will.
Naomasa then began berating her with questions, none of them hostile, but all official and formal. It made her wish she kept her mouth shut, but the past isn't so easily changed. She answered them to the best of her ability and felt like it was the one time she could answer truthfully and not dance around the questions. There weren't many questions to be asked, but he asked anyway.
Some other pros showed up, either late to catch Yoruichi or in response to the call about the dead body. The former group left as soon as they understood the situation. And Hawks... he left awhile after the police showed up. Something about a building fire a few cities away.
Nezu, meanwhile, had left to go back to the school. Likely to inform the teachers that Shihouin was innocent. How he arrived with them at the site was a mystery. He wasn't with the original trio.
Elsewhere, Yagi was sitting with Shihouin just outside the police barriers.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Yagi asked, Tsukauchi away from the two as he talked to his fellow colleagues. "You were in close quarters with a human corpse."
"I'll be fine. I was almost one of 'em. Remember?"
"I understand, but still-"
"Relax, I'll be fine."
"O-okay then. But if you ever feel the need to talk about it U.A. does have councilors."
"Gotcha," Yoruichi replied, having tuned him out awhile ago.
That corpse looked a lot like the man whose souls she saw. It also looked thinner, like parts of it were removed from the inside. It was almost like Mayuri's depraved experiments, dissecting and analyzing the anatomy of deceased Shinigami and other creatures. Some times Quincies would be unlucky enough to get in his crosshairs. She felt relieved that no Fullbringer's were ever in his sight. It's hard to tell what he would do to them.
Nonetheless, the corpse looked empty when she showed it to them. When she fished his body out of the dumpster it gave her a better look at the man. His death was recent. Like the soul said, he didn't have the chain yesterday. It would've probably been nice to ask how the man died, that way she'd have a lead.
She gripped the side of her head and squinted her head in agitation. Dealing with the deceased was never something she trained for. She was taught how to preform a Konsō, sure, but the amount of times she had to go to the living world she could count on one hand. The first time was when she was younger and not even head of Onmitsukido. She had her Zanpakuto then and taught how to preform a Konsō. The second time was in her self exile, and after she discarded her blade.
"The moment I get back-"
"Shihouin, let's go." She heard Aizawa call out to her.
"Right."
The day had finally gotten to her. She was tired and hungry and wanted to go home. For now, she complied. She followed her guardian to his car just to save her energy in Shunpō. She was officially done for the day.
AN: [Post Release Note: So when I was going back over the released chapter, I noticed an entire patch of dialogue was fucking missing from the chapter. I had problems with it in the past, and I'm not surprised it decided to disappear again. Sorry about that!]
That's done. Keep in mind, I did my best to keep Aizawa in character. I'm not entirely sure if leaving school to check on Yoruichi is something in his character, but in my defense this is the closest thing to a parental role Aizawa had had in his life, so I can only guess. Also I wouldn't have gotten the cat scene without him leaving so, there's that too.
He will bring up the "hey, Shihouin you didn't tell me you had a cat" thing either next chapter or the one after. It won't be blatantly ignored.
[Sid-note: There were originally two alternate endings with this chapter. One ended up with Hawks finding Yoruichi and the two entering a bet where they would race to Hawks's agency. If Yoruichi wins (idk what Yoruichi would get, that's why I scrapped this ending (even though it's ultimately irrelevant)). If Hawks wins, Yoruichi goes to his agency after the sports festival ends. Hawks would win purely by treachery because he wouldn't tell Shihouin where his agency was and would lead her on a wild goose chase, following him around Japan until he looses her and basically cheats his way to victory.
The second ending was her meeting with Kyudai Garaki, but I thought it would be too soon and too rushed (THIS IS FORESHADOWING) so I opted not to.]
Meanwhile: RÉPONSES(French)
Concerns: I understand your concerns as they are also ones I have as well. Some I'm still thinking on how to address, some I already know how to address and others are concerns I've never thought of before, and I thank you for bringing them to my attention.
Dragonlord001: I did not know that! Thank you for bringing that to my attention. I'll make sure she goes through a large growth spurt at some point in the near future.
Jose19: Yes she does. But if she didn't hold back greatly she would turn every person she goes against into a bright red mist.
Samuelfoster646: Even with the amount of training Izuku goes through he can't hold a candle to Yoruichi's strength. As for shipping, I am still very hesitant to touch that thing sitting in the corner, even though I'm holding a twelve meter pole, wrapped in barbed wire and is on fire. If I decide to grab that thing it will be very carefully and slowly. As for now, that much is staying within Canon.
